Tag: Advent talk

Here is the second talk in my “Be Prepared” Advent series. I pray that God will bless you as you read through it. It is best to use a bible while reading it through.

Matthew 3:1-17

Theme: Be prepared to receive

Aim: To a church congregation; that in order for us to receive Christ, we repent of our sins, and have our lives changed by Christ.

Main points:

1. Call to repentance

2. Produce the fruit in keeping with repentance

3. Reason to repentance

Introduction

What is the point? Why do you do this? Their were two questions that I was asked this week. On Wednesday morning, I went out on the streets did some leafleting, and talking to people about Jesus. The main evangelist who preaches on the street was half way through a talk, when a couple of women were outside Pound land and we were set up by Timpson’s in the canopy between two shopping centres. They were talking amongst themselves and I heard them say, what’s the point? Why does he do it? Who will listen?

Evangelism is not easy! Proclaiming the gospel is not easy! It only gets easy when people are willing to accept what you are saying, and take it to heart. It only becomes easier when God has opened their hearts, in order for you to speak to them. Though in order to receive him they must first know about him.

Last week, we saw the nature of the suffering servant, what his suffering means, and why he came to suffer. We saw that in order to accept who Jesus is and believe in him faithfully, he needed to reveal himself. After knowing who he is, and why he came for us, what do we need to do to receive him? What will happen when we receive him? What is the reason to receive him into our lives?

We now come to our passage at the start of Matthew’s gospel.

Call to repentance

This passage follows a period of 400 years of silence from prophetic ministry. There was a period of waiting. They were waiting for the coming Messiah. No one knew when he will appear or what he would look like. Though one man was sent by God and his name was John.

John was a man who lived in the desert and he was a preacher, just like the evangelist on the street, he was preaching aboutrepentance. Now we usually hear on Christian T.V channels, a guy in a nice 3 piece suit, shouting at the top of his voice “Repent, Repent of your sins! Wrath of the Lord is here, turn away from your evil way!”

What does Repent mean? Why does John call out in the middle of a desert and Shout “Repent”? V2

The meaning of “To Repent” “Metanoeo” (Greek) doesn’t just mean to be sorry, but to change one’s life completely. It is not simply saying sorry for hitting someone in the face or saying sorry because you have burned the turkey on Christmas day. Repenting is an act that will change your attitude towards the things in your life. John was calling people to come to him, and turn from their own ways. Why?

“For the Kingdom of heaven is near”. What is the kingdom of heaven? It is the coming of the proclaimed king. John was preparing the people because the Messiah is coming, he is here! After 400 years of silence the promised King is here and he is bringing his kingdom with him.

But who is this John? What is his real purpose? Luke 1:17. He came to prepare people for the return of the Lord.

John is the one that the Prophet Isaiah foretold in Chapter 40:3 V3. John was sent to prepare the way for the coming king. For us today, he would be a scout, who has come to deliver a message. That is who John is. He is the one to prepare the way for the Lord, and make straight paths for him. In Isaiah 40, the prophet was describing the highway that God was preparing on which the exiles would return home from Babylon. To make a road smooth one would expect royalty to pass over it. That is the call to repentance. John is preparing our hearts in order for God to have a straight path to travel into the hearts and lives of his people. The kingdom of heaven says Don Carson “was increasingly spiritualized or planted in men’s hearts”.

For we do things in our lives, like I described last week, that we do need to turn from. What do we need to do in order to receive Christ in our lives? We need to prepare our hearts by confessing to him, all the wrong that we have committed, in order for us to receive his kingdom.

What made John so attractive? What made him attract so many people to confess their sins? Well it was the physical appearance of John that gave the Jews at the time the thought. V4-5 He wore clothe out of camels hair. Now I don’t know if you have ever seen camels hair, well it isn’t like cotton or Nylon or silk. For camel’s hair is rough and sharp, very cheap and not very luxurious. He had a leather belt around his waist. Do they remind you of an Old Testament character?

Elijah. In 2 kings 1:8 Elijah is described as wearing camel-hair and having a belt. He was to return when the Lord comes and dwell with his people. Malachi 4:5-6. What John ate also had importance. In Leviticus 11:22 Locusts were allowed to be eaten according to the Law, and the wild honey was the nectar of shrubbery. The reasons why John and Elijah were like this was in order to make themselves holy and not tempted in to softness in the ministries they were conducting. What impact did that have on the people?

Well v5+6 People came from everywhere to confess their sins; they came from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region of the Jordan. Confession of Sins was nothing new to the people who came. It was commanded in the Law that one should confess their sins, and each person had individual responsibility. Have you understood what it means to confess all your sins? This morning we will have the opportunity in making that act of confession later, but I want you to think. How would you have taken John? Would you take him seriously, or do you think he is a poor man with a problem? For John calls for repentance, but he also calls us to

2. Produce the fruit in keeping with repentance

John was having such an impact, preaching about repentance that he attracted the attention of the Pharisees, and Sadducees. V7 and John said to them V8. Produce fruit of repentance, well what does that mean?

Well John’s sharp response picked up immediately the fact that they were there. They could have been keen to see what John was doing, or they wanted to come and condemn his preaching, or even to come and be baptized, but John called them a brood of vipers. They are like serpents; fleeing away from the wrath of God’s Judgement.

John is preaching genuine repentance, and genuine repentance means changed lives. The religious leaders must show their conduct that they have turned from their sins, and they are willing to turn away and confess their sins. Why? I thought that they were the chosen people of God?

V9 The coming of Christ’s reign demands repentance from us all, being a descendant of Abraham is not enough. They can’t think that Abraham will keep them from punishment. You are not saved by God because you are from a good background and you have a great job. It is down to your faithful obedience to God. What happens if you don’t?

V10 You will be chopped down and be burned, regardless of your roots. The fruit of genuine repentance that is produced cannot be added on to life, but grow out of the dispositions of the heart. If there is no genuine repentance, then there is no fruit. If there is no fruit, it means there hasn’t been a fundamental change to your heart. I remember hearing at a pastoral lesson of Thursday that you can’t staple fruit to a tree, it has to be grown. It looks fake and temperamental. That is what we do in our lives. We only scratch the surface in repenting things, but the deep problems remain in our hearts. We chop the top of a weed, but allow the roots to remain.

John wasn’t sent to judge them, but to prepare the way for the one who will. V11+12. John is pointing forward to the glorious event that will take place. Christ will come and baptize his people with fire and the Holy Spirit. This would be the way, Jesus would discern between those who have genuinely repented of their sins, and those who remained against him. The baptism of water is to indicate repentance, and the Holy Spirit would confirm it. John recognized that he was unworthy compared to Jesus. For he is More powerful and hissandals I’m not fit to carry highlights John’s humility towards Jesus.

What will happen when we receive Jesus? Jesus had come to separate the wheat from the chaff. Those who confess their sins will be saved, those who don’t will be condemned and burnt.

3.Reason to Repent

Jesus’ baptism is the start of his ministry, and in v13 he came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Now John recognized Jesus V14 and he tried to deter him. Being a humble man, he knew that it wasn’t right for Jesus to baptized by him, because he was conscious of his own sin, and he couldn’t detect any sin Jesus needed repenting of so he need to be baptized by him. John was expecting Jesus to fill him with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that is why he says I need to be baptized by you.

John then asks do you come to me. Jesus came to John. Jesus comes into our lives when we ask him too. When we faithfully proclaim God’s message, Jesus will come to you, and that is why Jesus came, but there is another reason for Jesus to be baptized. V15 to fulfill all righteousness. It was to fulfill the will of his father, which is to undergo the baptism of John, which confirms the ministry that he will conduct; the ministry that will lead to his death. It will be the death that will lead us today to all righteousness, because he bore all our sins by enduring suffering on the cross, as we saw last week. Jesus needs to obey all commands given to him by his father, and baptism was one of them. John agreed, and then the confirmation of Jesus’ ministry occurred.

V16-17. Immediately, the heavens opened and the spirit descended on Jesus. Along with the spirit, the father reveals himself, and confirms his loving relationship to his Son. This was the beginning of the salvation plan for God, to bring his faithful people back to him.

When we receive baptism, we pray for the Holy Spirit to awaken our hearts and to allow our eyes to see the wonders of faith in Jesus. Just as Jesus received the Spirit from his father, we can receive the Spirit in our lives. But like John, we need to know who Jesus is, and then when we know who he is, we are able to receive the gift of forgiveness and faith. God reveals a triplet about Jesus when he speaks.

This is my son: It confirms that Jesus is the son of God, who was conceived by Mary, and was sent by God to suffer. He is the father who sent his son, to bring us back in a relationship to him.

I love: The father loves his son. The bond of love between the Trinity is expressed in these verses, for the Son is baptised according to his father’s will, the father sends the spirit because he is the counsellor who will direct and guide the son in his ministry, and the son receives the spirit, because he will also sent the spirit to those he loves which are his disciples, and us today

I am well pleased: God is pleased on how obedient his son is, and that he is fulfilling his purpose through obedience.

Conclusion

What do I need to do in order to receive Jesus? You need to repent! John calls us to repent, and as we await the return of Jesus, we need to be ready in our hearts to receive him as king. We will say a prayer of confession later and I encourage us to say that prayer from our hearts. We can say sorry from our mouths, but if it isn’t from our hearts, then we can’t produce fruit, and we will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

What will happen when I receive him? Your life will be changed. You will need to give up the worldly desires of your heart, and fully trust and obey Jesus. You will be given the gift of eternal life. I encourage you as you get to know Jesus by reading your bible, and through mediation in prayer, your lives will depend more on him, and not on worldly thoughts.

What is the reason to receive him in our lives? The reason to receive Jesus is to be saved. When Jesus returns, he will come and separate those who are wheat and who are chaff. If we agree with allowing Jesus to dwell in our lives we will be like wheat and not chaff. If we are like chaff, we are useless, and we will be burnt in unquenchable fire, but if we are wheat, we are taken with him into glory.

So what are you going to be, faithful wheat, or useless chaff? Let us be prepared to know Jesus and receive him in our lives. Amen.

I was given the opportunity over Advent to do my own Sermon Series. It took a while for me to choose the passages, but I went for the following themes and passages:

1. Be Prepared to Know Isa 52:12-53:13

2. Be Prepared to receive Matt 3:1-19

3. Be Prepared to Meet Matt 24:1-35

Here is the first talk of the 3. I hope that this will be a blessing to you as you read it.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Theme: Be prepared to know.

Aim: To a church congregation that in order for us to fully receive Jesus, we need to know what he has done for us?

Main points:

How well do you know… the nature of the servant?

How well do you know… the meaning of his suffering?

How well do you know… the result of the suffering?

Introduction

How well do you know…? I use to get asked that question when I was at school. How well do you know your times tables? How well do you know your periodic table? How well do you know your vocabulary?

May be at work, the phrase could relate to someone who you work with. How well do you know… the boss, colleagues, colleague’s friends, wife, and children?

You hear it at police stations. You are sitting in a room ready to be interviewed, and the first question is, how well do you know, the victim/ robber?

You could hear it in the supermarket, while buying your groceries, and you hear, how well do you know her boyfriend, or how well do you know her husband. They are firelighters to start gossip.

The answers that respond to that type of question are either I know a lot or I know a little. I have two questions that I would like you to consider as we look at today’s passage and they are:

How well do you know the really important thing in your life?

How well do you know the person who came to save us?

As we start today on a three-week series called “Be Prepared”, we are going to look at how prepared we are in, knowing who Christ is, being prepared to receive him in our lives, and then to finally meet him, when he returns in glory. We are going to look how well we know the suffering servant, what happened to him, what his suffering means, and the result of his suffering.

Let us now look at our passage from Isaiah, and ask ourselves

1. How well do you know… the nature of the servant? 53:1-3+ 7-9

How do we know about God? What happened in order for us to know God? God revealed himself to us! When he reveals himself, then we know more about him. God revealed himself first to Adam in the Garden in Genesis, he revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush. We can’t look for God, and expect him just to be found. He has to reveal himself. How will God reveal himself to us now? No one would believe in Jesus, unless he revealed himself, and that is what V1 highlights. Who has believed our message? There are two things going on, first we need to know who the servant is, and then believe faithfully in him. Unless we see a revelation of God, then we don’ believe it, and we continue to seek knowledge to answer our question. As V2 highlights, he grew up like a tender shoot, a root out of dry ground. Jesus was born in a stable. He was a baby. His physical appearance had nothing to draw us to him. His physical appearance is not important, but something else is, and I will explain that later. In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel was sent by God to choose a king from the family of Jesse, and he came across Eliab, who was the oldest brother, and the Lord said in verse 7 “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at his heart.” This is the same view of the servant. We are blind to what the servant looks like, because what really matters is the heart. The Lord will only judge the heart of a person, so are your hearts prepared to know the truth about Jesus?

Isaiah really uses some big adjectives to describe a picture in our minds of what will happen to the servant. He will be rejected, despised. The people turned their faces from him; they held him in low esteem. V7-9 , oppressed, afflicted, led like a lamb to the slaughter, sheep before his shearers, judgement, cut off, punished, assigned a grave with the wicked, death, violence. All these words describe exactly what Jesus went through. Isaiah made this prophecy, about 700 years before Jesus’ crucifixion, and describes exactly how the suffering servant, Jesus; was going to suffer. Is that the Jesus we see at Christmas? If you were Mary, and you were expecting a child, would you wish this on the one you would give birth too? This Friday I saw my new 1 week old Nephew, and as I held him, I couldn’t wish anything on earth to harm him, for he looked so weak and helpless. In V7-9 we see the process of what Jesus went through for us. He was oppressed, and afflicted as he walks to the cross. He didn’t open his mouth. Have you ever tried not to scream in pain? Well Jesus offered no physical resistance or verbal resistance. Isaiah brings in the image of the Lamb. He was led to the slaughter. Lambs usually make a lot of noise before they are slaughtered, but Jesus was silent. He knew exactly what had to be done.

Jesus’ execution on the cross, v8 who protested? No-one! They didn’t understand what was going on; he was cut off from the living, his death. Why? For the transgression of my people he was punished. This is an act of Substitution. God sent the servant to take the place of us. He was battered, despised, bruised, oppressed, rejected, for us. These words bring out how much Jesus was brought low. He was brought down as low as possible. For all of us, every aspect of human nature is inadequate. We commit things that we shouldn’t have done, and we run away from the Lord, we turn our faces away from the one who took all our sorrows, and weaknesses, and made them his own.

He was buried as someone who had committed a crime. He was assigned with the wicked, and the rich, V9 but nothing came from his mouth. He was guiltless. He had done nothing wrong. He led a life of perfection, loyalty, obedience to his father, and he was buried as a criminal.

Well what happened to the servant? He suffered the pain of our sins, and he bore them on the cross. Are we prepared to take that to our hearts, that an innocent servant took everything for us? That is what happened to the servant.

2. How well do you know…The meaning of his suffering V4-6?

What does all this mean? Why did the servant suffer?

V4-6 He took up our pain and our suffering. He stood in place of me. He took all our sins to the cross. For we see him stricken by God. We think that it is God the father who sent his Son and that is true, but why? He did it for us because he loves us. V5 Pierced and crushed for us.

I remember in the film The Matrix. The Main Character called Neo, he had been chosen as the “One”. The machines were about to destroy the city of Zion, and only Neo could save them. He went into the Matrix, and faced Agent Smith, in a battle. In the end, he was successful, but it cost him his life. This is the same in this passage.

V5 He was pierced for our sins; he deals with our sinful state. He was crushed for our iniquities;the punishment that brought peace was on him. The pain of death created for us the peace, and reconciliation to God the father. We were alienated from God, because of our sin. As we remembered the many thousands, who lost their lives in conflicts, and wars, two weeks ago; the sacrifice of their lives, was in order for us to be a nation free from evil dictators. They faced the punishment of death for in order to create peace. Jesus’ body was whipped, flogged, and by his wounds we are healed. The broken bond between us and God is restored. The wounds of Jesus have brought healing to our relationship with God, for the object of achievement, was restored with completeness. But do we always maintain that relationship?

V6 Do we turn our back from God? Why? Because we are in a broken and fallen world, cursed by sin. Our hearts are full of imperfect thoughts, and passions. We are all like sheep.

Last year, me and the vicar did the I AM saying’s of Jesus in John at the assemblies at the school, and we used this illustration to show “I AM the Good shepherd”. We need a shepherd in our lives, and Jesus is our good shepherd. He guides us, and rescues us when we get lost. Sheep have an instinct to eat grass, and when they see good grass that leads away from the flock they go a bit more there, bit more there, until they get lost. We do that today. We are influenced by things in our world today, that take our hearts away from God, and we trust the sinful passions of our hearts, and not the loving grace of God. So we wonder away.

Isaiah makes it personal each one of us has turned to our own way. We all turn away, individually! We have a bit of TV here, going to the pub, playing on games machines, watching football, doing the cleaning, doing the knitting, reading novels, and we move away from the shepherd. But the shepherd comes and rescues us, for; the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all. Did you know that Jesus took all our rejections, blaspheming guilt, and made it his own? Isn’t that amazing? We should be so glad that Jesus has come. So when you are going out to buy presents for people, or when you are going out to Christmas dinners, remember that the point of preparing is not to indulge ourselves, but to get to know the one who took our guilt. To get to know Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was pierced and crushed for us. That is the meaning of his suffering.

The final question I want us to consider is this:

3. How well do you know… the result of the suffering? 52:13-15+53:10-12

Well this is all great, I know the nature of the suffering, what Jesus went through, but what is the result? What is the main point?

Well from the start of the passage, Isaiah gives us the answer: V13 Jesus will be raised, lifted up, highly exalted. Let’s look at this triplet:

Raised: Jesus, after he was crucified, pierced, wrapped up, he was laid in a tomb, he was there for three days. Have you ever left sour milk for two days out of a fridge, it’s not pleasant, so could you imagine in the smell of a dead corpse in a tomb. Well, when Mary went to the tomb, she came upon an empty tomb. She heard from the angel that Jesus had been raised to life. He was alive! Jesus is alive and he has conquered death. Then he was:

Lifted up: Jesus gave to his disciples; the commission in Acts 1:8. “You will be my witnesses in all of Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After that, He then ascended to heaven on a cloud before their sight. The last talk, we will see reverse of this event.

He was highly exalted: This is the point; to bring glory back to God. Though the pain and the suffering, rejection, and death of Christ to us seems to be the worst thing that could happen to any human being, it was to bring glory back to God. For out of Jesus’ suffering, his glory would be revealed, and now he is exalted as King of Kings, and as Isaiah explained earlier in 9:4. V14 Even though he was disfigured beyond human likeness. To the Jews he wasn’t the saviour they were hoping for, V15 but kings will be silenced, and his word will spread across nations, all the way to where we are today. It would have a world-wide effect, bringing leaders to submission. V15The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf will be healed and they will understand. They will see the glory of Jesus, and as we prepare for his return, we should begin to spend time to get to know him.

The last 3 verses bring all these lines to a point: v10-12. Even if God the father brought suffering on his son, and made his life an offering for sin; look at the positives that come out of it. He will prolong his days, have the light of life, he will have a portion among the great. His reward is to be the King of heaven, and to bring us to our heavenly father. Through his knowledge, the knowledge that he had to die, nothing would be achieved, and now he has opened up the way for us to be with him in eternal life. Isn’t that something worth believing in? Isn’t that something to admire and be thankful for? They are the results for the servant’s suffering.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by answering the questions I have asked:

How much do you know…the nature of the servant? We know through reading our scripture, that God revealed himself to us, through Jesus. His purpose was not to be attractive physically, but what he was going to offer for us. He is the substitute for our lives. He stepped in and bore all our sins on his shoulders. He had to suffer and die for us in the most appalling way.

How much do you know…the meaning of the suffering? He suffered for us. We are all curse by sin, we continually turn our faces away from him. The meaning of the suffering is for us. We still go around and do what we want, and we still make Idols in our lives, and turn away from God. But all the suffering was in order for us to be united back to our father. Jesus though did it to get the highest result.

How much do you know…the result of the suffering?

Even though Jesus went through the most horrific death. He was raised to life from the dead, has ascended to heaven with his father, and now is highly exalted on his throne. The one, who was brought to the lowest of the low, was made the highest of the high. He is the king of kings, and Lord of Lords. Even though he was crushed for us, and suffered for us; he did it to bring himself glory. We should worship, and give thanks to our God for what he has done for us. I want to ask you again:

How much do you know the most important thing in your life? Is it Jesus? Do we know all the facts? No!! We only know what is written, but let us uses this time of Advent to explore who Jesus really is? Who is this child who was born in a stable? Who is this man who hung on a cross for me?

How much do we know about the suffering servant? Let us go away today, and prepare to know Jesus, before we look at next week, how prepared are we to receive him Amen.

About The Blogger

I’m a disciple of Jesus and a Church of England Pastor who holds a Reformed Theological position, a high view of Scripture and has a passion to help grow and encourage disciples of Jesus Christ in their faith.

The posts will be a mix of personal reflections on books I am reading or theological issues I encounter. I hope they will be as useful to you as they are to me. Happy Reading!